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Since leaving La Paz, I have mostly been working in hospitals and clinics with adult patients. Aside from the general clinic I was in last week, I really haven't been working with kids much, and I really missed it. I was really excited to get back to pediatrics, what I love doing, this week.
I was back in the San Lorenzo clinic for peds (same one as gynecology) so I didn't have to worry about finding my way there or knowing who to talk to which is always a bonus in Bolivia. When the gynocologist picked Carolyn and I up near the city center to give us a ride to the hospital, she told us that she had been up until 3 with a friend, and that she was extremely hungover. After explaining that the best medicine for a hangover is a beer, she stopped and bought herself a can! When we got to the clinic, we followed her to her consult room, where she chugged the beer, and quickly stashed it in a drawer before the custodian entered the room. At the end of the day the gynocologist asked carolyn to take the can home with her so that no one in the clinic would find the evidence! I never cease to be amazed in this country.
I greeted Dra. Shirley, the pediatrician, when she walked into the consult room, and we immidietly went to check on the inpatients. There were two sisters, 5 and 8 years old who were being hospitalized. The little one was just finishing treatment for neumonia, and the older had developed a fever and started vomiting during the time that her sister was in the hospital. I wasn't sure if she ever got a diagnosis, but both were gone the next morning.
Most of the patients this week were babies, with the occasional 3 or 4 year old. We saw all of the tyical stuff: flus, colds, stomach issues, ear infections, eye infections, undernouroushment…. The doctor had me first complete the physical exam and then she followed. Many of the babies were filthy, unwashed, and smelled strongly of urine.
One day there was a hospitalized baby with ghandis that had been born prematurely. She was in an incubator that didn't work, so it had two gas stoves pointed at it. Although the typical treatment is blue-light therapy, the hospital only had one florecent lamp available.
Another day, a 4-year-old boy came in to have his stiches removed from a small wound on his stomach. The mother said that he had fallen with a knife in his hands, but I don't think that is likely what happened. Child abuse is not uncommon here, and the doctor wasn't very convinced either.
On Friday, my host dad, who is the treasurer of one of Tarija's largest wineies, took me, Aaron, and Carolyn on a private tour of their vineyards and wineries. We first went to the winery where the engineer explained the technicalities of the processes and machines. At the end they served us their white wine with cheese, olives and chocolate. After that, we were taken to the Singani factory, Bolivia's traditional alcohol, which is triple distilled wine of a special grape specie. We got a tour of the factory by the manager, and came back to the house to sample the strong drink (I didn't like it very much, but had to taste it after seeing the whole process).
Being my last weekend in Bolivia, I decided to spend as much time as possible with my host family. On Saturday I went shopping with my 16-year-old host sister and her mother for an outfit to wear for a birthday party. We walked from store to store, all literally hole-in-the-walls with imported clothes from the States and Europe. We also went to the city's black market: a market full of clothes and shoes in boxes and piles. After searching for hours, she finally found something she liked. On our way home, we drove to a booth that sold a traditional drink made out of peanuts - so sweet! The following day all of the family: cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents - came over to our house for the weekly Sunday BBQ.
Can't believe it is my last week here! Mixed feelings about leaving, but I am definitely looking forward to coming home.
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